XENON REPLACEMENT HEADLAMP BULBS - OVERHEATIN

[rayspurgeon]

Having recently replaced standard headlamp bulbs on my V70 (old shape)with xenon filled 55w bulbs from Halfords I have now read an item in Telegraph archives suggesting possible melting reflectors etc because of higher heat output. I would welcome other V70/Volvo owners comments,advice or experiences on this.

[liuleichan]

>Having recently replaced standard headlamp bulbs on my V70
>(old shape)with xenon filled 55w bulbs from Halfords I have
>now read an item in Telegraph archives suggesting possible
>melting reflectors etc because of higher heat output. I
>would welcome other V70/Volvo owners comments,advice or
>experiences on this.

The stock bulbs (H7s) that should be in your V70, already contain Xenon in the bulb gas mix.

So aftermarket, improved H7s are just pushing the envelope a little - to elaborate, Xenon and higher gas pressures were introduced into stock bulbs, from H7s onwards, in order to get the filament to burn hotter, hence brighter / whiter, from the same (or in this case, relatively modest) power consumption (55w). Of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch. The cost of this extra performance, being a slightly negative effect on bulb longevity.

This "technology" was retrofitted to earlier bulbs (eg H4s) that didn't previously have Xenon in the gas mix, and had lower bulb gas pressures.

What I'm trying to say, is that most of the "work" was already done for the H7 bulb (what the ?70s series cars use in the headlamp units), from the outset (ie as stock). So I would speculate that aftermarket "improvements" aren't going to be as great as for the earlier bulbs, like, for example, H4s - which have been more seriously developed.

Lei Chan

[Simon Linton]

I've been using H4 and H1 Xenon bulbs in deep and shallow headlamp 850s with no ill effects, either on the reflector or on apparent longevity.

Some of the more expensive Xenon bulbs were tested in Auto Express and other mags, proving that many "own brand" bulbs performed better than the premium variety.

Ask where you buy.

[rayspurgeon]

Lei and Simon,

Thanks for your feedback. Hopefully this exchange will caution others to proceed carefully before splashing out £40 on two new xenon bulbs thinking a 30% improvement in brilliance may be obtainable over the standard fit volvo bulbs.

[liuleichan]

>Lei and Simon,
>
>Thanks for your feedback. Hopefully this exchange will
>caution others to proceed carefully before splashing out £40
>on two new xenon bulbs thinking a 30% improvement in
>brilliance may be obtainable over the standard fit volvo
>bulbs.

I wouldn't want you to think that aftermarket H7s cannot be improvements - merely that they are already pretty darned good, as far as filament bulbs go.

The compromise with H7s over previous bulbs (H4s, H1s etc), being the reduction in service life.

And as many ?70 series cars run with DRLs (even though they can be switched off, with the little grubscrew thingmy), it's not uncommon for headlight bulbs to need replacing reasonably frequently. And stock H7s aren't the cheapest bulb out there.

I believe that there are some quality, aftermarket H7s that do produce improved performance - I'm not trying to suggest their claims are false, per se - but the compromise is always going to be in longevity (given how they obtain the improvement - as I said, there's no such thing as a free lunch). As H7s aren't the greatest bulb on this front (lifespan), and pretty good as stock, I'd have to say - is it worth it?

Compared with say H4s, or H1s, the improvement isn't likely to be as great (from standard, to "uprated" bulbs) for H7s, and it's already a great bang-for-buck bulb, 55w consumption, and high performance.

Lei Chan

PS - just a helpful comment, not a dig - my forename is "Lei Chan" the "Chan" isn't my surname (that's "Liu").

[pettaw]

As Simon says, its all about which particular H7 bulbs. Lots of people here have used Philips VisionPlus H7s with good improvements, and I've used VisionPlus H4s with great results. They're not that expensive so I'd give them a go.

I've got Visionplus H4s in my 240, and Visionplus H7s in my V70.

I noticed a good improvement with both, even though both cars previosuly had the 'premium' 30% brighter bulbs in.

[markas]

Hi ya all,

I too have put the Upgraded bulbs in both my DRL and front fogs to improve and small foot print that these give. They for me personally last about 2 years so the life is definitely far less than the old type, it is a trade off.

Just my 2 pennies. :-)

mark